Though a bit on the sappy side, this story managed to succeed for me. I enjoyed it. Since sap and mush are usually non-starter story qualities for me, though this seems like faint praise, it really isn't. A story that overcomes my biases has to work twice as hard and be extra good at what it does, and this one did and was. This one was like a lot of Jeffrey Ford stories, which start out in voices and about subjects which I'm almost certain to have no interest in and then draw me in inexorably despite all that. Nice job, Will McIntosh and great reading as usual by Chris Reynaga.
(And btw, if we're still taking nominees for coolest name, I'd submit that "Reynaga" is a damn cool name.)